Dispatches From Elsewhere Review: Cave of Kelpius (Season 1 Episode 7)
The conflict between the Jejune Institute and the Elsewhere Society comes to a head on Dispatches From Elsewhere Season 1 Episode 7, “Cave of Kelpius.”
Peter leads the Blue Team on a final, thrilling chase for information on Clara’s whereabouts, but the game’s finale makes for a disappointing conclusion.
By the time the lights come on, Peter has not only made a fool of himself in front of his friends — he has also been devastated by the sense that there’s nothing left to believe in.
After the thrilling highs of Dispatches From Elsewhere Season 1 Episode 6, “Everyone,” this episode feels somewhat anticlimactic — which is how the characters experience it, too.
But despite the game’s hokey ending, there’s no denying that each character has experienced something profound and meaningful along the way.
This episode affords each of them a chance to reflect on what they’ve learned, and also what they stand to lose now that it’s over.
For Janice, the game helped her rediscover the bold spirit of her youth. She became the kind of adventurer her younger self would be proud of.
Yet when she joins in conversation with some of the other game participants, the patronizing way they speak to her makes it clear they don’t see her as part of their cohort. Her age makes her an outsider, and the sense of belonging and friendship she felt within the Blue Team immediately starts to dissolve.
Peter, of course, is the most devastated. The game disrupted the mind-numbing monotony of his daily routine and made him feel, for the first time, truly alive. He discovered a courageous, strong will that he hadn’t known he possessed before.
Most importantly, he found that elusive feeling Clara wanted to share with the world — hope.
Peter: Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d rather believe too much than go back to not believing anything at all.
Even Fredwynn is able to step back and self-reflect, as he considers the impact his desire to win at any cost has had on relationships throughout his life.
The flashback clips are very funny, especially when we learn the origin of his oddly specific romantic directive to Peter (“When she gives you her heart, don’t take a magic marker and write all over it”) — but they’re also painful.
Watching Fredwynn repeatedly sabotage his chances of friendship, even as a child, makes me feel a physical twinge of pity.
All of this character work serves to reinforce the idea that the game wasn’t just about cooperation — it was about self-discovery.
The game gave each of them permission to be their most authentic selves, to put all of their weirdness out in the open and trust their teammates to value them despite those oddities. It provided a thread of common experience that they could use to connect with one another, and it helped them discover what was missing in their lives.
The challenge, of course, is how to use that knowledge and live differently now that the game is over. While each of them do take steps in that direction, it’s unclear whether they’re ready to make truly lasting changes.
But while the overall tone of the episode is melancholic, the final scene at least gives us some hope. There’s still more to Clara’s story, which means the Blue Team won’t need to disband quite yet.
What did you think of this episode of Dispatches From Elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Dispatches From Elsewhere airs Monday at 10/9c on AMC.
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Ariel Udel
Ariel fell in love with storytelling on the night Flight 815 crashed on a mysterious island, and has been blogging about television ever since. She has an affinity for messy female anti-heroes and an enduring love of Battlestar Galactica, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lost, and Halt and Catch Fire.